Paragons of Ether

by Ryan Muree

  “Why would the king and his advisors do that?” he wondered aloud. There was something they were missing. “It’s a massive risk for the people, for the competitors, for the advisors, even—”

  “Right,” she said. “There will be tons of people attending. They’re still claiming it’ll be the biggest event ever, topping previous competitions several times over.”

  “All those people in one place…”

  “I’m not sure they’re thinking of an attack,” she said. “I think all those people are a cover.”

  He’d stopped just below the Goddess’s statue. A cover? “You think he’s trafficking the kids through Aurelis to get them somewhere we can’t find them?”

  She eyed the statue and then nodded at him. “I think it’s easier to hide your tracks when there’s so much going on at one time. I’m not sure it has anything to do with Ingini.”

  “But that also means he doesn’t know we’re using Dova to find the kids.”

  She nodded. “Yeah, I guess so.”

  At least they had that to their advantage.

  “You also need to know that your friend, Urla, wrote us, too. She said the Zephyrs were invited to compete and that they’re going.”

  The Zephyrs. Would that include Adalai? He couldn’t imagine so. And they’d been pronounced dead, so how was it they came to be invited?

  “It sounds like a trap,” he said. “Who made the announcement about the tournament?”

  Her lips were a tight thin line before saying, “Orr.”

  The king and the panel of advisors were no longer in control.

  “You think Orr convinced the king?” she asked.

  “I don’t think the king is the king anymore. We need to get to Aurelis.”

  Lower Aurelis — Revel

  Adalai looked over a map of the arena with a box of sweet puffs in one hand while petting Tidbits with the other.

  It helped that the crowd could see the arena floor from their seat, as well as the advisor’s rise. King Fhaddwick, General Orr, and the advisors would be sitting up there and watching.

  They couldn’t kill them. They just needed to do something crazy enough to get their attention.

  Like an explosion.

  Cayn walked back into the room of their tiny apartment. “How’d the meeting go?”

  She popped a few more puffs into her mouth. “Not bad. Got a ton more people. Looked good. I think we can use them.”

  Cayn nodded and squatted down next to her, taking the sweet puff box and sniffing its contents. “This is disgusting…”

  She yanked it back. “You’re from Ingini. Your food is not any better.”

  “Wrong.” He held up a finger. “I was an escort. Sometimes I got very high-level clients, and they ate well.”

  She refocused on the map. “How many did you guys get out the other night?”

  “Twenty-three,” Cayn said, and then chuckled. “You should have seen Advisor Lance. He was so pissed he couldn’t do anything. It was glorious.”

  “That’s because you’re good at your job.” She smiled. “Are you sure you weren’t in the UA?”

  “I’m sure. Make love, not war, and make love again.”

  “And how many Ingini came back with you?”

  He counted off on his fingers. “Four are running for Ingini. Julian got them transportation out. Hopefully, they make it, but that’s looking pretty grim. Six ran, and we couldn’t find them. The rest joined us to help get others.”

  Good. She eyed the map of the arena floor again. She needed to do something drastic while telling them it was the REV and not the Ingini who’d done it. There had been a push for the Messengers to announce how terrible the Ingini had been, orchestrating impossible attacks. It’d been turning into neighbors accusing neighbors of being Ingini spies.

  “Oh,” she said. “Before I forget, I found out Jahree is still in Revel.”

  Cayn narrowed his eyes at her.

  “Jahree is escorting Clove around.”

  His entire demeanor perked up. “You got a lead?”

  She nodded. “I think he’s headed here.”

  “Clove might be coming here?”

  “Aurelis,” Adalai said. “The Zephyrs were added to the list of the RCA Ethereal Series.”

  “But you said they reported you all dead.”

  “They did.”

  “So, why would they get an invite?”

  She shrugged. “They might think they won’t show up. They might think they will and will attack them in the competition. I don’t know, but they wouldn’t be added to the list unless someone in the group accepted it.”

  “Aren’t you joining them?” he asked. “Weren’t they your crew?”

  She shook her head, shook out the memory, refused to think about it. “No. Not anymore.”

  Cayn looked at her with an intensity that made her wiggle and focus back on the map. “What? What is it?”

  He grinned. “You’re worried about them.”

  Maybe. It wasn’t like she wished they’d stub their toes on every surface for eternity or anything. She’d been the one to let them down and fail. “I’m not an animal, Cayn. I’m worried it’s a trap.” She gestured at the center of the ring.

  “That’s why it’s taking you so long to figure this out,” he said, crouching beside her. “You’re trying to do it all. Save them. Save the Ingini. Stop General Orr.”

  So, what if she was? Was that so wrong? It didn’t feel wrong. It just felt really lame to admit. She swallowed another bite of sweet puffs and tossed the box aside. Tidbits ran after it to dig through it.

  He smiled at her.

  “We just have to make a huge display to interrupt the competition while letting them know it was us and not the Ingini, while also not hurting anybody…” She pulled her knees up and turned the map around.

  “Too bad you can’t just bomb it,” Cayn said. “It would make things a lot easier.”

  “I thought of that, but that would definitely kill people.”

  “Would it?” He pointed to the map of the arena. “There’s not a space or location that would take an explosion without hurting people?”

  She eyed the map again. There was… actually. “Dead center.”

  His eyes widened. “That’s not what I meant—”

  “It’s a competition between Casters. It’s vicious, it’s fast-paced, it’s a mess. Ether flies everywhere. The ground and walls of the arena are designed to take the brunt of all that. That’s the whole point.” She wiped her mouth and sat closer, pulling out strings and tape to measure the distances between the sides.

  “You want to bomb the middle of the arena?”

  She nodded. “And I can Blink right on top after it happens.”

  “That’s insane—”

  “I won’t let anyone else do it. That way I can announce it was the REV, and I can make sure it doesn’t hurt anybody—”

  “And if they come for you?”

  She shrugged. “I’ll Blink back out. I’ll escape. It’ll be fine.”

  “Famous last words.” He clicked his tongue. “But you’re the boss. Anything on the Ingini slaves being trafficked through the competition?”

  As long as he was asking, yes. “Actually, I was hoping you’d handle the aqueduct passages. I think they’re going through there.” She thumped her index finger on the map.

  “Sewage?” he said, cracking his neck.

  “Aqueduct passages,” she corrected.

  “Sewage. You barely know me, but let me tell you that I don’t do sewage.”

  Adalai shrugged. “Then don’t, and I wish you the best with finding Clove.”

  He reached back for the snack box Tidbits had been messing with and tossed it at her head. It bounced and tumbled to the floor.

  “You’re too good,” he said. “You know that? You’re too good at convincing people to do what you want.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Hol-shit.”

 
“I can’t help having brilliant ideas and fantastic skills. It’s a curse, really.” Even she couldn’t hide her smile. “You came here for your sister. Go find her.”

  Except, she didn’t want him to. Not yet. She liked counting on him. He was trustworthy. He was good at his job. He reminded her of her old Zephyr team.

  “I will go find her,” he said, “but this is more important right this second. She’ll understand.”

  She breathed a little easier. “So, I can count on you to head the group for the aqueduct?”

  He stood and smirked. “Can I shoot a C-class ether-pulse canister from 300 feet away?”

  “How the shit am I supposed to know—”

  “Yes! Yes, I can. Jeesh.”

  Good.

  As far as the actual Zephyrs went… Hopefully, her entrance into the series would be enough to save them, too, if they were actually coming.

  And she hoped they weren’t.

  Chapter 21

  Lower Aurelis — Revel

  Clove put a hand on Jahree’s arm. “You need to go.”

  He was clasping a message from Urla about them being in the RCA competition. “It’s a trick. It’s got to be a trap. They said we were all dead. They knew we broke the rules when we went into Ingini.”

  Mack crossed his arms. “If you all got invited into this competition thing, then they know you’re not dead.”

  “And you can’t just leave the others to go in alone.” Clove understood. After knowing the Zephyrs, after seeing what they’d been through together, they were more than just a team for the RCA. They had been a family to one another. There was no denying his pull to help them and be there for them.

  “But I can’t just leave you two here in Aurelis either. Out in the open? In the middle of this mess?” Jahree paced.

  “Yes, you can,” Clove said. “It’s okay. We’ve been able to manage so far. We’ve got new clothes. We no longer look Ingini. We’ll stay nearby, check around the city, and look for Cayn some more.”

  Jahree’s face went blank as if his brain shut off. No, that look was familiar.

  “Sonora?” she asked him.

  He nodded slowly. “She’s not competing, but she’s coming to watch and help us organize. They’re waiting for me at the barracks for the competition.”

  Mack gestured at their rented room’s door. “Go. We’ll be fine.”

  “You’re sure?” he asked, more at Clove than Mack. “It’s only for a few days.”

  She smiled. “I’m sure.”

  He went to speak again but went for the door instead. “Wait, no. Will you walk me out, Clove? Just for a second.”

  Walk him out? Just her? What, did he want a parting kiss or something ridiculous like that? That wasn’t them, though, and he knew that.

  “Okay.” She followed him down the stairs to the outside of the building and around a side street.

  The reason he’d called her out was burning a hole through her. This wasn’t like him. Something was off. The air between them had shifted to something rigid, something tangible and awkward.

  “Why are you being so secretive?” she asked.

  He glanced around them, squinting in the gold light filtering between the buildings. “I’ve been struggling with this for the last few days, and I thought I had more time, but… I can’t keep my promise.”

  She watched a woman hobble across a nearby street. “What promise? What do you mean?”

  “If this is a trap, if the Zephyrs are a target of anything, I don’t want to go in there without telling you that I can’t keep my promise.” He leaned in. “I don’t want to be friends with benefits. I want more.”

  Her mouth dropped open. Air was stuck somewhere between her head and her feet. It was somewhere there, though she couldn’t find it.

  “I know,” he said, hands up defensively. “I know that’s the exact opposite of what you wanted and what I said I wanted and what I thought I wanted… Trust me, it’s gone around my head a million times, and I still can’t shake it.”

  She swallowed. Her mind was a blank slate, trying to grasp the landslide discovery he’d just dropped on her. “You what?”

  “We’re really good together. Better than anyone I’ve ever met—”

  “It’s sex, Jahree!” she whispered loudly.

  “It’s not, and you know it. It’s more than that, and I can’t shake that it’s for a good reason. I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m not okay with dying and not telling you that I want more, Clove.”

  She scoffed. “What’s more than what we’re already doing?”

  “Commitment.”

  Vomit. Bile. Her entire body wanted to reject that word, that thought, that idea. How could he do this? How could he say this to her?

  “I know I’m the last person to say that,” he continued, “and I really thought I never would, but I can’t bear the thought of you being with someone else. Or not even you. I can’t bear the thought of me going to someone else with my stupid sarcastic remarks and pilot theories and—”

  “I don’t think—”

  “—we just get each other.”

  No. He wasn’t doing this. Not now. She shook her head. “But Jahree—”

  “Don’t answer me right now. Just promise me you’ll reconsider our deal. When all this is over, I’d like you to consider being with me. The commitment can be as small or as big as you want… but I want to know if you’ve felt the same way as I have. If you feel like there’s something more there than just physical.”

  She couldn’t move, couldn’t respond. Words weren’t forming properly in her head. She’d be horribly upset if something happened to him, and she’d be sad when their time was over. But did she want more like he did?

  “Say something, please.” His lips were set, his eyes focused purely on her.

  “Okay,” she managed.

  “Okay?”

  “Okay, I’ll think it over.”

  He brought her forward and kissed her on the forehead. “That’s all I was hoping for. Wish me luck?”

  She nodded half-heartedly. “Good luck, Jahree. Be careful.”

  “I will. You too. I’ll come right back here after the tournament, okay?”

  She nodded again. That’s all she could give him. What else was she supposed to do? What else was there to say? Okay for the fiftieth time? Sure thing?

  Jahree left her with a little wave and turned a corner.

  Her feet were numb. Her hands were numb. Her lips, her chest.

  She hadn’t seen this coming. What had he been thinking? Did he really think she’d reciprocate?

  And why wouldn’t he?

  She’d told him months before that she hadn’t wanted a serious relationship, and he’d agreed. But was a commitment serious? Did it have to be? Was he just basically asking for them to be monogamous? That wasn’t so bad. She wasn’t her brother.

  So, why did the sinking feeling in her stomach, the twisting of her gut, tell her it was more than that? That he didn’t just want a promise to be monogamous but to also be potentially, maybe, possibly together forever.

  “Want to look around? Get any tips on Cayn?” Mack’s voice came from behind and startled her.

  “How long have you been standing there?”

  He chewed on the inside of his cheek and nudged her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s just look around.”

  Aurelis should have been a distraction. It was an enormous city living up to all the hype stupid Adalai and stupid old stories from Dimmur had said about it. But instead of focusing on how nice everyone was in the streets to one another or how safe it felt to walk around without getting mugged, none of it pulled her attention from Jahree’s words or Mack sauntering beside her.

  “Want to talk about it?” he asked.

  No. Fuck no.

  “You look mad,” he said.

  “I am mad.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re asking me to talk about it, and it’s none of your business. You shouldn’t
have been listening,” she bit back.

  They walked on down the street, eyes forward, talking in low tones to not attract attention.

  “Am I a friend, Clove?”

  What kind of question was that? It didn’t warrant an answer.

  “Am I not even a friend?”

  “Of course, you are. You’re practically family.”

  “Then, we should be able to talk about this stuff.”

  “Not this,” she snarled.

  “Why not?”

  “Because.” She stopped under a small awning and turned toward him. “You’re just being nosy.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Nosy, Clove? I’m being nosy? You’ve been screwing him this whole time, thinking I don’t know, that I can’t tell, that I haven’t caught you—”

  She gasped, embarrassment rushing through her.

  “You had no problems dragging me along this whole trip, so I wouldn’t go away—”

  “So you wouldn’t get yourself killed!”

  “Like Lark?”

  Tears broke. Tears. What had she become? So easily frustrated, so easy to cry… “I’m sorry about Lark. I’ve said a million times how sorry I am about Lark.”

  “I know, Clove. I’ve heard it, but you have to admit it’s been pretty shitty of you to keep me on, making me watch whatever it is you have going on with him, all while knowing how I feel about you.”

  She sniffled and wiped her eyes. “I didn’t mean to hurt you, but I can’t lose you either.”

  “I know.” Mack glanced at either side of them, most likely searching for anyone looking at them suspiciously. “I know you didn’t mean to, but your relationship with him—”

  “It’s not a relationship,” she spat.

  “Oh, really? It’s just sex?” He shook his head. “Really? You think I’m that stupid?”

  “It is! That’s what it was supposed to be.”

  “Until now?” He took a step back. “If your feelings have changed and you want more from him than what you wanted from me, then so be it. I’ll support you no matter what. But you can’t ignore how that would hurt me and then leash me along, so you don’t feel guilty.”